Process for simultaneously making a master printing plate or form and a cross-reference index-card.



W. E. OHOATE. PROCESS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY MAKING A MASTER PRINTING PLATE0R FORM AND A CROSS REFERENCE INDEX CARD. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7,1907.

Patented Jan. 13, 1914.

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WILLIAM E. GHOATE, OF MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS.

PROCESS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY MAKING A MASTER PRINTING PLATE R FORM AND aA. GROSS-REFERENCE INDEX-CARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 13, 1914.

Application filed March 7, 1907. Serial No. 361,069.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. CHOATE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Melrose, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Processes for Simultaneously Making aMaster Printing Plate or Form and a Cross-Reference Index-Card, of whichthe following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing likeparts.

My invention relates to a method for the simultaneous production of amaster printing plate and a cross reference index card having a recordedfacsimile of the subject matter of said printing plate.

So far as known to me, cross reference index cards have hitherto beenmade subsequently to the production of the printing plate, therebynecessitating a second operation with the added cost of producing thesame.

lit will be understood by those familiar with filing systems, employingprinting plates or index cards, that at least two are usually employed,for instance, in the card indexes of libraries, one is classifiedrelative to its origin or author and the other relative to the subjectmatter. In commercial practices, it is also desirable not only to employtwo such reference cards or devices as described, one being a copy ofthe other, but to provide for the subsequent production of any number ofcopies. In bibliographic supplements also, many magazines contain, forthe benefit of their subscribers, references to important works andauthors, which have to be cut out and pasted on a card and filed awayfor future referencejif it is desired to preserve a record of the same.

By my invention, I aim to provide a method that will provide the usualcross reference devices or cards and that will also enable thepublishers of such magazines to supply their subscribers with indexcards containing the subject matter of the'references and without thenecessity of againsetting type to print them, which because of theexpense is unusual at the present time. All the above, however, withother features and ob ects characterizing my invention will be bestunderstood and appreciated by reference to the following description,when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, illustratingone method of carrying out my invention, its scope being moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1, represents, in slde elevation, a suitablesupport and superimposed card and stencil plate, with the stencilcutting tool for forming the characters therein and illustrating onemethod of carrying out my invention; Fig. 2, a plan of a master form orstencil plate produced by my method showing also the support and gagesfor positioning and retaining the same; Fig. 3, a similar view of theunderlying card showing the slugs cut out of the stencil plate inlaid orembodied therein and forming a facsimile or copy of the subject matterthereof; Fig. 4, a vertical section, on the line 4-4, Fig. 2; Fig. 5, asimilar view of a modification of my process, showing a tool adapted toform a cameo-intaglio printing plate character and indenting a facsimileof the subject thereof in the card underlying; and Fig. 6, a partialplan of the latter showing the indented character or letter.

Referring to the drawings (Figs. 1 and 4) and to the particularembodiment of my invention therein illustrated, 1 represents anysuitable support, preferably metallic, on which a slfeet or card 2, ofany desired size, is supported, said card being of a yielding materialand preferably similar to that em ployed in card catalogues or indexsystems. Over 0r superposed upon this card, is a card or sheet ofsuitable stenciling material 3, which may be of any desired materialsuch as the usual metallic plate, cardboard,

celluloid or the like, the support preferably being providedwith-adjustable end and side gage and retaining devices l and 5respectively, for positioning said cards and holding them in place. Thecards being thus supported, I then take character forming tools 6, inthe present instance stencil cut ting tools, and cut the desired lettersor characters in the stencil card or blank, and in desired order withwhatever spacing is desirable. Each tool/is driven in to cut through thestencil blank by means of a hammer, mallet or other tool, the slugs 7cut out from the stencil blank being forcibly driven into and inlaidin'the surface of the underlying card. The underlying card forms ayielding bed for the cutting tool to cut against and is preferablythicker than the stencil blank, so that the slugs are not driven throughbut firmly held and retained in place, and presenting visible andlegible characters together constituting a facsimile of the stenciledsubject matter of the stencil blank. The cards employed, both for thestencil and index card, may, if desired, be of different colors so thatthe embedded slugs will stand out in contrast to the surface of the cardin which they are retained. Obviously, such feature is not limited toemploying cards of difierent colors, as similar results may be obtainedby using different material. The stenciled card or blank and itsfacsimile copy may then be removed from the support and filed away andwhen duplicates are desired, the stencil blank may be used to producethem in the usual manner.

My method contemplates-the use of stencil orming tools of any desiredtype and is not limited to that herein shown or illustrative purposesonly, nor to the use of stencil forming tools but any other characterforming tool may be employed. For example, in the modification of mymethod illustrated in Figs; 5 and 6, I use a tool adapted to formcameo-intaglio type and a printing plate of suitable material,preferably a thin sheet of metal. In this instance, the card 2, whichforms the yielding bed, is placed on the rigid support 1 and theprinting plate blank 8 superposed in the manner already described, thecameo-intaglio faced tool 9 being driven in by any suitable means or atool, such as a hammer, and as described to form the type character andto simultaneously indent the underlying card with a facsimile of itscharacter. The plate thus formed, as well as the cross reference indexcard thus simultaneously produced, may then be filed for usage in thecustomary manner. Obviously, the printing plate thus formed may be ofany desired size, containing more or less type surface, and it may beadvantageously used by itself or collectively with others to form aprinting form for printing the subject matter of the typed face thereof.This is especially desirable in printing the pages or fly leaves ofmagazines which contain desirable reference matter and which have beenhitherto cut up to separatethe different subject matters for referencepurposes, the separated slips being pasted on cards for filing. By mymethod, I do away with the necessity for this labor, providing thepublisher, who uses my method, with simple means for the inexpensivereproduction of a large number of cross reference index cards andenabling him to supply his subscribers or the trade therewith, at a.cost slightly in excess of that of the usual index cards. The pages 1card against or fiy leaves referred to, or any printed matter, may firstbe produced for publication in a similar manner by theuse of thestenciled plates thus also providing for subsequent reproduction.

' Another instance in which my method is advantageously employed is inconjunction with the use of insurance cards or manufacturers tags whichcontain printed matter and blanks to be filled out and where one or morecopies are utilized. Where but two are employed the simultaneousproduction of the printing plate and cross reference card provides them,said printing plate providing a master printing form rom which anynumber of copies may be made, the blanks in said insurance cards andmanufacturers or other tags bein filled out by previously stenciling inthe esired address or other subject matter by my method.

While in the described process of carrying out my invention, I haveemployed the char- 'acter forming tools singly, it is obvious thattaining a facsimile of the subject matter represented by the characterof said form, this method being ada ted for application wherever indexcards, ling systems, manufacturers tags orthe like are employed.

Having thus described my invention with reference to a single selectedembodiment thereof, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States:

1. A method for producing simultaneously a master printing form and across reference card, which is characterized by superposing a card orblank on a second card; punching one of the cards by a character formingtool and removing material from said card and forcing it into thesurface of said second card; and confining the material of said secondcard against displacement in the direction of movement of the characterforming tool.

2. Amethod for roducing simultaneously a master printing orm and a crossreference card, which is charaeterizedby superposing a card or indexblank on a second card; forcing a character forming tool onto the faceof one card and thereb removing material from said card and em eddingthe same in the second card by displacing the material of the secondcard ina direction substantially parallel to the surface of the card;and restrainin the material of the second isplacement in the directionof pressure of the character forming tool.

3. Ametho'cl for producing simultaneously a master printing form and across reference In testimony whereof, I have signed my card which ischaracterized by superposin name to this specification, in the presenceof 10 a master printing blank on a fibrous an two subscribing witnesses.

ductile cutting bed cutting stencil slugs out of the master printingblank and embedding WILLIAM CHOATE' them in the fibrous ductile bed; andre- Witnesses: straining said bed against transverse dis- SIDNEY F.SMITH,

tortion. HEVERE'IT S. EMERY.

